New Economic Perspectives-

Sixty Minutes’ December 11, 2011 interview of President Obama included the following gem:

KROFT: One of the things that surprised me the most about this poll is that 42%, when asked who your policies favor the most, 42% said Wall Street. Only 35% said average Americans. My suspicion is some of that may have to do with the fact that there’s not been any prosecutions, criminal prosecutions, of people on Wall Street. And that the civil charges that have been brought have often resulted in what many people think have been slap on the wrists, fines. “Cost of doing business,” I think you called it in the Kansas speech. Are you disappointed by that?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think you’re absolutely right in your interpretation. And, you know, I can’t, as President of the United States, comment on the decisions about particular prosecutions. That’s the job of the Justice Department. And we keep those things separate, so that there’s no political influence on decisions made by professional prosecutors. I can tell you, just from 40,000 feet, that some of the most damaging behavior on Wall Street, in some cases, some of the least ethical behavior on Wall Street, wasn’t illegal.

That’s exactly why we had to change the laws. And that’s why we put in place the toughest financial reform package since F.D.R. and the Great Depression. And that law is not yet fully implemented, but already what we’re doing is we’ve said to banks, “You know what? You can’t take wild risks with other people’s money. You can’t expect a taxpayer bailout.

Hallucinations occur at high altitude when you become oxygen deprived.

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[NEW ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES]

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